1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to heaters for use in an electrical smoking system and more particularly to a heater having a free end for use in an electrical smoking system.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Previously known conventional smoking devices deliver flavor and aroma to the user as a result of combustion of tobacco. A mass of combustible material, primarily tobacco, is oxidized as the result of applied heat with typical combustion temperatures in a conventional cigarette being in excess of 800.degree. C. during puffing. Heat is drawn through an adjacent mass of tobacco by drawing on the mouth end. During this heating, inefficient oxidation of the combustible material takes place and yields various distillation and pyrolysis products. As these products are drawn through the body of the smoking device toward the mouth of the user, they cool and condense to form an aerosol or vapor which gives the consumer the flavor and aroma associated with smoking.
Conventional cigarettes have various perceived drawbacks associated with them. Among them is the production of sidestream smoke during smoldering between puffs, which may be objectionable to some non-smokers. Also, once lit, they must be fully consumed or be discarded. Relighting a conventional cigarette is possible but is usually an unattractive prospect for subjective reasons (flavor, taste, odor) to a discerning smoker.
A prior alternative to the more conventional cigarettes include those in which the combustible material itself does not directly provide the flavorants to the aerosol inhaled by the smoker. In these smoking articles, a combustible heating element, typically carbonaceous in nature, is combusted to heat air as it is drawn over the heating element and through a zone which contains heat-activated elements that release a flavored aerosol. While this type of smoking device produces little or no sidestream smoke, it still generates products of combustion, and once lit it is not adapted to be snuffed for future use in the conventional sense.
In both the more conventional and carbon element heated smoking devices described above combustion takes place during their use. This process naturally gives rise to many by-products as the combusted material breaks down and interacts with the surrounding atmosphere.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,093,894; 5,225,498; 5,060,671 and 5,095,921 disclose various electrical resistive heating elements and flavor generating systems which significantly reduce sidestream smoke while permitting the smoker to selectively suspend and reinitiate smoking. However, the cigarette articles disclosed in these patents are not very durable and may collapse, tear or break from extended or heavy handling. In certain circumstances, these prior cigarette articles may crush as they are inserted into the electric lighters. Once they are smoked, they are even weaker and may tear or break as they are removed from the lighter.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/380,718, filed Jan. 30, 1995 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,594, issued Feb. 14, 1995 describe an electrical smoking system including a novel electrically powered lighter and novel cigarette that is adapted to cooperate with the lighter. The preferred embodiment of the lighter includes a plurality of metallic sinusoidal heaters disposed in a configuration that slidingly receives a tobacco rod portion of the cigarette.
The preferred embodiment of the cigarette of Ser. No. 08/380,718 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,594 preferably comprises a tobacco-laden tubular carrier, cigarette paper overwrapped about the tubular carrier, an arrangement of flow-through filter plugs at a mouthpiece end of the carrier and a filter plug at the opposite (distal) end of the carrier, which preferably limits air flow axially through the cigarette. The cigarette and the lighter are configured such that when the cigarette is inserted into the lighter and as individual heaters are activated for each puff, localized charring occurs at spots about the cigarette in the locality where each heater was bearing against the cigarette. Once all the heaters have been activated, these charred spots are closely spaced from one another and encircle a central portion of the carrier portion of the cigarette. Depending on the maximum temperatures and total energies delivered at the heaters, the charred spots manifest more than mere discolorations of the cigarette paper. In most applications, the charring will create at least minute breaks in the cigarette paper and the underlying carrier material, which breaks tends to mechanically weaken the cigarette. For the cigarette to be withdrawn from the lighter, the charred spots must be at least partially slid past the heaters. In aggravated circumstances, such as when the cigarette is wet or toyed with or twisted, the cigarette may be prone to break or leave pieces upon its withdrawal from the lighter. Pieces left in the lighter fixture can interfere with the proper operation of the lighter and/or deliver an off-taste to the smoke of the next cigarette. If the cigarette breaks in two while being withdrawn, the smoker may be faced not only with the frustration of failed cigarette product, but also with the prospect of clearing debris from a clogged lighter before he or she can enjoy another cigarette.
The preferred embodiment of the cigarette of Ser. No. 08/380,718 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,594 is essentially a hollow tube between the filter plugs at the mouthpiece end of the cigarette and the plug at the distal end. This construction is believed to elevate delivery to the smoker by providing sufficient space into which aerosol can evolve off the carrier with minimal impingement and condensation of the aerosol on any nearby surfaces.
Several proposals have been advanced which significantly reduce undesired sidestream smoke while permitting the smoker to suspend smoking of the article for a desired period and then to resume smoking. For example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,093,894; 5,225,498; 5,060,671 and 5,095,921 disclose various heating elements and flavor generating systems. Parent application Ser. No. 08/380,718 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,594 disclose an electrical smoking system having heaters which are actuated upon sensing of a draw by control and logic circuitry. The heaters are preferably a relatively thin serpentine structure to transfer adequate amounts of heat to the cigarette and is lightweight.
Although these devices and heaters overcome the observed problems and achieve the stated objectives, many embodiments are subject to mechanical weakening and possible failure due to stresses induced by inserting and removing the cylindrical tobacco medium and also by adjusting or toying with the inserted cigarette.
Further, undesired electrical shorts can occur if the shape of a heater assembly is altered, e.g., by adjusting or toying with the inserted cigarette.
Also, the electrical smoking systems employ electrically resistive heaters which have necessitated relatively complex electrical connections which can be disturbed by insertion and removal of the cigarette.